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The opinion sounds superficial -- how often the label is used rather than what democratic socialism means. Now in France the Socialist Party is the major party (link, click on Show). A good indicator of the extent of socialism is government spending as a percent of GDP. France 56%, Germany 45%, USA 41% (link).

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I.e., in what respects is Bernie proposing to go further than today's France?

He wants to extend Medicare to all ages, not just 65+. He would love a "dictatorship by the proletariat". Heavily pro-union. He relentlessly uses the class struggle -- the working class versus the rich. Blame for the Financial Crisis of 2008 goes totally to Wall Street, none to government. Free college educations for all at public colleges and universities. An so on. Where does he stand on various issues? See here.

I haven't found anywhere that he has said unequivocally whether or not he is in favor of allowing individuals to choose. That's not to say he doesn't know, just that I don't think he has said explicitly. I don't imagine he would, either, given that this was a controversial point for Obama with the ACA.

BS has said, however, that his plan would have each state administering their own single-payer system with federal oversight. That implies that the states would have some say in whether or not individuals could choose.

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I heard Trump wants single-payer health care for all too. That'd make him not only a crony capitalist, but a socialist too.

--Brant

He did at one time. He doesn't anymore. Now he's pushing mostly for a repeal of ACA and allowing insurers to compete across state lines.

Im having a difficult time finding Trumps position on ACA. His web site shows hes taken no formal position. Cruz is unwavering,having cut his teeth on opposition to it and apparently is capitalizing on Trumps detail less comments.

Sanders is not a "socialist" in the technical sense, nor are France and Germany "really" socialist in the strict technical sense.

Sanders is a Social Democrat, and France and Germany are both Social Democratic mixed economies.

Social Democracy absolutely comes from the socialist intellectual tradition but it differs from classical socialism because it accepts the necessity of a market in the means of production. Classical socialism is defined by abolishing markets in capital/input goods.

Social Democrats are basically what happened when Socialists realized that Mises and Hayek were right; without a marketplace in the means of production, economically efficient allocation of capital and inputs becomes impossible, and there is no substitute for the market process.

So instead of focusing on the distribution of the means of production, Social Democrats focus on the distribution of the results of production. Thus for them, the core issue is income distribution and attempting to regulate and redistribute away the alleged flaws of the necessary market process.

In practice this really doesn't differ substantially from economic fascism (which is also welfarist and believes in the managerial state), although it often focuses on different cronies and justifies itself differently.

But no, France and Germany do not live under socialism today. They are Social Democracies/Mixed Economies/Regulated Market Economies. France and Germany DO, however, appeal to ideas from the Socialist intellectual tradition in order to justify their economic systems.

studiodekadent: "this really doesn't differ substantially from economic fascism"--so "Social Democracies/Mixed Economies/Regulated Market Economies"= "economic fascism," and this is, according to you, the current regime in Germany and France?

Close.

"Economic Fascism," also called "Corporatism," occurs when the means of production are privately OWNED but they are regulated/controlled by the State (to at least a substantial degree). As such, to the degree that these economies regulate/control capital (i.e. control how private businesses act), they are Economically Fascist.

More hardcore forms of Economic Fascism involve a lot of cronyism and "government-linked corporations," cartelization of the economy, etc.

Economic Fascism can exist in terms of degree, basically. I'm saying that it is present to a substantial degree under Social Democracy.